Discovery III

What a beautiful day we had for a boat ride on the Chena River!  We headed out for the boat fairly early because we knew there was a humongous gift shop there, and it did not disappoint.  After good shopping and ice cream, we boarded the authentic stern wheeler, Discovery III, and started our awesome journey.

First of all, many of the homes along the river are just gorgeous!

 
 

The first excitement of the trip came when a Piper Super Cub buzzed the boat then demonstrated a landing and take-off from the water right beside us.

Next stopped at  Susan Butcher's 

home and kennels, and her husband, David Monson,  came out and talked to us.  Susan and her lead dog, Granite, won the Iditarod 4 times, but unfortunately she died from leukemia in 2006. We saw a dog and her litter of puppies swimming in the river, and then David did a demonstration of how the dogs work a sled by having them pull an ATV around a gravel drive on the property.  It was amazing to see how anxious the dogs were to pull and run, and how fast they could go.  

Mom and pups.

Swimmimg pups.

Sled dogs running.  

The end of the run.  

Cooling off after the run.  

Moving back up the Chena River, our narrator gave us a lot of information about the river where it joined the Tanana River.  Like the Yukon and Klondike confluence,  the two different kinds of water make a distinctive difference in color.

 
Dark water is the spring and snowmelt Chena.  Lighter water is the glacial fed Tanana.

 The captain turned the boat around for the return trip while the narrator  gave us lots of info about the land, the animals that live here,  and especially the natives who originally settled in this area.  There were even teen aged kids of Athabaskan and other Indian and Eskimo descent aboard who told us about their heritage and served as guides at the authentic Native American  village which was our next stop.  The kids did a great job of explaining how their ancestors managed to live and prosper in this harsh land.   It was a very informative and entertaining set of presentations and then we had time to wander about on our own for a while.   I visited David Monson and bought his book, Granite,which he autographed for me.

A native fish wheel for catching salmon.

David Monson autographing his  book for me.  

A parka made from a variety of animal skins.  

Salmon drying before being put in the smoke hut.  

We learned a lot about life in this area, and the boat ride in this beautiful weather was a pleasure.  A trip on the Discovery is a "must do" for anyone visiting Fairbanks.  

Back at the dock we shopped a bit more and also spent a few minutes in a room with a temperature of  -40 degrees.  It took me a while to get warm again after that! 

For happy hour and dinner we visited the Fairbanks Moose Club.  Imagine our surprise when a guy came in wearing a Jaguars hat!  Naturally we struck up a conversation with him and his dad and mom.  They gave us lots of tips on more things to see and do in Fairbanks.  A guitar player who sang a lot like Willie Nelson and a harmonica player kept us entertained.